Such an assembly is known from EP-A1-0 170 715. The known assembly consists of a container for the substance to be nebulized and a nebulizer cap which can be placed on the container with a co-axial air supply chimney through which air enters into the nebulizing chamber defined by the container and nebulizer cap. There is a nebulizing nozzle located centrally in the nebulizing chamber from whose nozzle head the gaseous compressed substance exits and which sucks the substance to be nebulized through the suction channels in the nozzle head and nebulizes it. The mouth of the nozzle is located across from where the end of the supply chimney enters the nebulizing chamber. During inhalation, the surrounding air flows through the supply chimney into the nebulization chamber and is inhaled by the patient together with the nebulized substance. A cooling effect occurs during the nebulization of the substance and during the mixing with the incoming surrounding air which is due mainly to evaporation. This lowers the temperature of the aerosol which the patient inhales.
A nebulizer is known from DE-A1-30 43 537 in which the substance to be nebulized is warmed up by an electric heating element. This is to prevent the strong cooling effect caused by the aerosol flow when it comes into contact with the mucus membranes. The electrical heating element of the known nebulizer is a PTC-thermistor which is in heat-conducting contact with the container for the substance to be nebulized and which is located in a body made of good heat-conducting material. In general, the known nebulizer works satisfactorily.
However, it was recognized that heating the substance to be nebulized also has disadvantages. On the one hand, an unfavorable influence on the aerosol spectrum occurs in that the distribution of the droplet spectrum is dependent on another variable, namely the temperature of the substance to be nebulized. On the other hand, overheating can occur during the warming of the substance to be nebulized, especially in the case of medications, since the requested temperature could be very high. The medication can be destroyed or damaged due to the occasional even only localized overheating. Furthermore, cooling occurs due to the mixing of the aerosol with the supplied ambient air which can either cancel the effect caused by the heating of the substance to be nebulized or which makes so much heating necessary that overheating can not be prevented.